Pats beating everyone, even the point spread

O, BY THE WAY

The Kickoff

So stinkin' good that no matter how high the point spread, they keep beating it.

Be impressed with 5-0 in the standings and the notion that New England and their Hall of Fame-caliber quarterback, Tom Brady, will wrap up the AFC East before Thanksgiving, if you want.

I'm floored that these guys are 5-0 against the spread despite the fact that every week, bettors who like these guys are looking at a line that the Pats have to beat by more than two touchdowns. Sunday, it took a miracle fumble return for a touchdown at the buzzer to cover (34-17 over Cleveland), but at least they were in position to make it happen.

Sunday was a good lesson in why picking against the line is such a tough proposition.

The final tally was 1-3, bringing the season total to 8-6-2. One loss was a whiff. I had New Orleans, giving three to Carolina, and it appears the Saints really are a bust. Too bad. The town could have used another jolt of good karma. The one win was a bit of a tester, but I had some early bad luck (blocked extra point) erased by a field goal when the Buccaneers-Colts covered my 45-point over.

But the two deciders, the Ravens, giving three, and the Packers, giving three, were both games that I had doped correctly but still wound up as L's. San Francisco made just two plays in that entire game, and it was enough for seven points to beat my Ravens' pick by a single point.

But that's the familiar lament of getting beat down by the point spread - I picked good but they played bad.